


All Hail the King

by ASharksReadingGlasses



Series: Ghost in the NYC [16]
Category: Danny Phantom, Deadpool - All Media Types, Marvel Universe - Fandom, Spider-Man - All Media Types
Genre: Danny is a little shit, Gen, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Jewish Peter Parker, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Multilingual Character, Multilingual Wade Wilson, Polyglot Wade Wilson, Protective Danny Fenton, Protective Wade Wilson, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Religious Discussion, Sort Of, Swearing, but so is danny, loki is a little shit, religion is mentioned, secret husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-15 06:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29804649
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ASharksReadingGlasses/pseuds/ASharksReadingGlasses
Summary: Wade feels disappointed that he didn't get his own special holiday time with Danny. To make it up to him, Danny agrees to go food hopping with Wade. They meet a certain trickster looking to make some trouble along the way - but Danny has a few tricks of his own hidden up his sleeves that even he didn't know about.
Relationships: Danny Fenton & Peter Parker, Danny Fenton & Wade Wilson, Peter Parker & Wade Wilson, Peter Parker/Wade Wilson
Series: Ghost in the NYC [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2045206
Comments: 106
Kudos: 414





	All Hail the King

**Author's Note:**

> This entire Loki scene was from my correspondence with [Stove](https://the-stove-is-on-fire.tumblr.com/) on tumblr - I just fleshed it out some. Please give them some love when you have a chance! And if anyone is interested, [this](https://www.ancient.eu/article/1290/norse-ghosts--the-afterlife/) is the article I used as reference for the Norse lore on ghosts.
> 
> 2/3 Bonus Episode for season 2!
> 
> Quick note on the religious discussion tag and Wade's view on religion: How I write Wade's view on religion does not reflect my own. With all the stuff he's had to deal with, I think Wade would find it hard to believe in any religion. I want to be clear; **he isn't dissing Judaism or anything like that, and neither am I.**

Wade sighed as he dragged himself out of the laundry room and into the kitchen in Peter's apartment, Fido cooing a gentle song in his ear. He knew this was probably a horrible thing to think -,

 _ **Definitely horrible,**_ Whitey belittled in his ear.

\- but he wished this whole holiday season would just be over and done with already.

Wade's and Pete's opinions on the holidays were... different, to say the least. Simply put Wade was too jaded about the idea of religion (especially with how his shit show of a life had ended up being) to want anything to do with religion or any of their holidays. He couldn't grasp the idea that some all-powerful, divine deity would have the balls to let dickwads like Francis and Angel run free without any retribution while the innocent people that revered them died without any miracles to save them. The whole thing made his skin itch like hives were breaking out on his skin. When he had met Vanessa, someone who had arguably an even more horrendous life than he did, it felt vindicating to have someone who understood him. With Vanessa, the holidays ended up being another day they could have fun together, spend time with each other, and have absolutely _mind blowing_ sex.

With Peter, it was different.

Pete had explained to him early in their relationship that his religion wasn't just about his faith - it was a connection to his Aunt and Uncle, who were practically his parents. A way he could honor his Uncle's memory. A bit of hope that he was still doing the right thing. So they compromised. If Pete wanted to commemorate a few Jewish traditions, Wade would do his best to keep his comments to himself and tried to be as respectful as he could - but it didn't mean he was happy about missing time spent with his Petey-pie. During the winter, there were usually enough assholes who got their kicks ruining other people lives that he could find a job around Hanukkah that would give Pete the space he needed, and then they would continue on like normal when he got back. This year he returned a few days before Hanukkah ended, much to Wade's frustration. So Wade had marched himself to Peter's apartment, fulling intending to have a snack while most of his clothes got washed, and give Peter a small gift if he was home before skedaddling back to hole-up in his apartment until the holiday ended.

To say he was surprised to see Danny walk in with Petey was an slight understatement. Although with often the kid found his way back into the apartment, he really shouldn't have been that surprised.

Wade was debating between what _might_ have been left over takeout from a few days ago or trying to make a sandwich with Fido sitting on top of his masked head like the world's most cuddliest cat when he heard the lock on the door click open. He paused, slowly closing the refrigerator door before walking to the hallway and peeking around the kitchen threshold. Pete was just closing the door while Danny was shrugging his arms out of his coat, both of them balancing containers of food in their hands. Peter spotted him leaning against the door frame and gave him a hesitant smile.

"Hey Wade," Petey greeted, placing the containers of food on the little table by the door, shedding his coat. "I didn't know you were back yet."

"Yeah, um," Wade stuttered, fully aware that they had an audience. "Got back a couple of hours ago, actually." Danny paused, tensing as he picked up on the awkward atmosphere.

"Are you guys fighting?" Danny asked softly, and Wade swore he sounded almost heartbroken. Pete paled, quickly turning Danny to face him.

"Danny, no," Pete assured hastily, "Wade doesn't-." Before Petey could try and make excuses, Wade decided to speak up.

"We're not fighting, home slice," Wade interrupted, and Danny looked back at him, studying him closely while Wade fidgeted under his stare. "I'm not exactly a 'holiday cheer' kinda guy, if you catch my drift. I usually leave for a while to give Pete space so he can do his thing," Wade told him, rubbing the back of his head as he waited for the kid's disappointment. Instead of looking letdown, Danny actually relaxed as he let out a sigh of relief.

"You don't like the holidays either?" Danny asked hopefully, and Wade blinked as Fido continued to trill in his ear as they moved to sit on his shoulder.

 _Yikes,_ Wade thought as he swallowed, giving Danny a faint nod, and watching as Petey's shoulders slumped in relief. _What_ _kind of childhood do you have to have that you hate the holidays as a teenager?_

 _ **The kind where your parents shoot you in the chest, you buffoon,**_ Greeny sneered, and Wade hid a wince.

 _Fair point,_ Wade conceded, lifting Fido off his shoulder and pointing them towards Danny. Fido took off towards Danny gleefully, circling around his head before settling into his hands.

 _ **When should we kill his parents?**_ Violet questioned as Peter grabbed the containers and headed to the kitchen.

 _We aren't killing his_ _parents-,_ Wade began when Yellow interrupted him.

 _ **Probably best to not do it now,**_ Yellow agreed as Danny continued greeting Fido. _**We should at least wait until he's eighteen. Take some of the heat off Petey's back when we do kill them.**_

 _We are NOT killing Danny's parents,_ Wade told them sternly, but his conviction sounded weak even in his own head.

 _ **What about a little maiming?**_ Violet piped up after a second. _**Everybody loves a little maiming.**_

 _ **I concur,**_ Red piped up. **_And we won't hurt them too much anyway. Maybe break their kneecaps._** Wade shook his head to dispel the boxes, putting their furious shouts out of his mind and following Danny to the couch.

"What were you guys doing anyway?" Wade asked as he sat on the other end of the sofa while Danny curled up on the cushions and kneading Fido like a stress ball, Fido purring contently.

"Peter's aunt wanted to meet me," Danny replied meekly. "They invited me over for Hanukkah dinner." Wade nodded before blinking in shock.

"You got to spend half of the day with Peter," Wade gasped with mock hurt, "And you guys didn't invite me!?" Danny looked up at him questioningly while Peter sighed from the kitchen.

"I didn't know you would be back home so soon, Wade," Peter tried to defend himself, but Wade scoffed and pouted as he crossed his arms.

"Not the point, Petey!" Wade called out to him, "The point is, this is a joint custody and Danny has spent most of his time with _you!_ _"_ Danny snickered, but he had a happy blush on his cheeks and snuggled deeper into the sofa cushions as Fido smiled and wiggled enthusiastically in his hands. "You know what? I've decided me and Danny are going to have some quality time together, and you're not invited," Wade sing-songed, nodding decisively. Peter walked back into the living room, his eyebrow arched in judgement when Danny piped up.

"That actually sounds great," Danny admitted softly, and Wade stilled while Danny continued, "Since it's Saturday tomorrow, I don't have school. What should we do?" Wade gaped, trying to come up with something on the fly. He was only joking (okay, fine, partially joking) about the joint custody thing, so he wasn't ready for Danny to latch onto the idea so readily.

 ** _We should take him to meet Weasel!_** Violet shouted hysterically.

 _Are you nuts!_ Wade bit his tongue to keep from saying the words out loud. _Absolutely not - P_ _eter would skin me alive!_

 ** _Aw_ _man,_** Violet whined, _**But Weasel has the best finger foods!**_ Wade was about to scold the box again, when he was hit with an idea that burrowed into his brain.

"Let's go food hopping," Wade blurted out. Peter threw his head back and laughed while Danny tilted his head questioningly.

"What's food hopping?" Danny asked, his fingers still fiddling with Fido.

"It's like bar hopping, but instead of getting shit-faced and blackout drunk-," Wade started.

"Wade," Peter admonished sternly as he dragged a hand down his face, and Danny snickered.

"- We could visit the best food stalls in New York. Boom, I'mma genius," Wade finished, surprising himself with how eager he was to show Danny what real New York food was like. Danny seemed to think on it a bit and Wade's grin dimmed as the boxes whispered doubts in his ears, before Danny nodded.

"Sounds like fun," Danny grinned, and Wade did a tiny fist pump, Peter's easy laughter filling the room.

* * *

Danny was a little surprised with himself by how much he was looking forward to hanging out with Wade the next day. It felt a little like he was fourteen again, when Sam and Tucker would drag him around town to get all their favorite snacks before going to one of their houses to binge on junk food while they watched movies. Back then Danny would only pick at his food and barely touch anything else, but since he had moved to New York, he found himself genuinely looking forward to meals, especially because he mostly shared them with Peter and Wade. Peter's hunch that eating regularly would decrease his need for ambient ectoplasm had been right, and the catalyzed ectoplasm he had brought with him lasted longer than they normally would have if had been eating like he used to.

He was even starting to bulk up a little with all the extra meals, and it was having an impact on his patrols. He noticed he had more energy, and it was easier for him to stay up later, patrol longer, and beat some of the more troublesome ghosts quicker. It was part of the reason why he agreed so easily with the idea, but he also genuinely wanted to spend more time with Wade. They all decided that Danny should sleep over so they all could spend a little more time together before Wade dragged him all over New York the next day. Fido would stay home with Peter because they needed their own ectoplasm recharge, and it was getting hard for them to hide in Wade's pockets with his increased energy level.

Wade woke Danny up at six a.m. the next morning, excitedly leaning over the back of the couch and poking at his arm repeatedly. Danny peeked towards the other end of the sofa and the sky outside the sliding glass door to the balcony was still dark. Danny pulled the spare blanket over his head and groaned unintelligibly, rolling over on the couch cushions as Wade went to poking at his head until Danny got up. He changed into one of the spare sets of clothes he had left at Peter's weeks ago; a green hoodie over a plain t-shirt, jeans, and his winter coat from the night before. Wade had forgone his Deadpool getup, wearing more layers under his leather jacket with the hood up and a scarf to cover most of his face. Once they were all set to go, Danny blearily followed Wade out onto the streets and tried to suppress a yawn.

"Why are we even awake right now?" Danny asked, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as Wade stuffed his hands in his pockets to escape the morning chill. Wade's eye's crinkled in the corners and Danny could tell he was smirking.

"What, you think food hopping is only going to last a few hours?" Wade retorted, bumping shoulders with him before pulling out one of his hands to show Danny his phone. The screen was lit up with a map of New York, a blue trail snaking it's way nearly all over the city. "Nah, chico, this is gonna take the whole day. It's gonna be great!" Danny shrugged, grinning slightly as he was infected with Wade's enthusiasm.

"Is there even anything open right now?" Danny questioned as he suppressed another yawn while they continued to walk. Wade snorted.

"Only the most authentic Mexican food stand in existence!" Wade proclaimed and Danny rolled his eyes; he should have known.

"Cool, lunch for breakfast," Danny replied, trying to keep up with Wade's strides. "I'm game."

"Not even close, home slice," Wade snorted, rubbing his knuckles across Danny's head before putting them back in his pockets. Danny squawked, trying to fix his hair.

"Wade!" Danny whined, elbowing him in the side in retaliation. "What's that supposed to mean?" Wade laughed, dodging his next hit by skipping ahead.

"You'll see!" Wade snickered, and Danny hurried to keep up.

They made it to a small park fifteen minutes later, and Danny was surprised to see a small line already forming in front of a medium sized food truck. There were a handful of people in various coats, some holding mugs in their hands while others stomped their shoes to get feeling back in their feet. The truck was painted in plain bright red, with an emblem of a skeleton in a mariachi outfit on the side with a banner that read "El Paso Truck". Steam billowed out of the open window and a small vent in the roof of the truck, the smell of grilling meat and vegetables wafting across Danny's nose. Most of the food trucks he had noticed in the city had bright, multicolored designs, but obviously this one was good if people were waking up at six in the morning just to snag a spot. A menu was stuck to the side of the truck, and Danny was about to sneak over to take a look when Wade snagged his arm and pulled him back into their spot in line.

"You're gonna want to let me order, chico," Wade told him, and Danny raised a brow while he crossed his arms while the line moved forward.

"How do you know what I like?" Danny asked jokingly and Wade chuckled.

"Kinda easy when you sneak leftovers out of Peter's fridge," Wade retorted and Danny felt his face get warm.

"I don't sneak!" Danny protested as he crossed his arms before sullenly adding, "Peter offers to let me take them when I come over."

"Peter does make some pretty good stuff," Wade agreed as they stepped forward, nudging Danny with his shoulder, "Still easy to figure out what you like when two containers of breakfast burritos are gone the next day." Danny pouted but his core hummed pleasantly in his chest when he realized why Wade had wanted to bring him here. Danny was about to thank him when the vendor in the truck came back to the window and looked down at them.

"Wilson!" The vendor exclaimed in stilted English, eyes bright with recognition as he leaned out the truck.

"Antonio!" Wade yelled back, walking closer to the truck and giving him a fist bump. "¿Cómo estas?"

Danny blinked in shock and his jaw dropped as the conversation continued in rapid Spanish, Wade and Antonio speaking so fast that he could only pick out a few words here and there. After Wade and Antonio shared a shoulder bump and Wade slapped twenty bucks into Antonio's hand, they only waited a few minutes for their for food before Wade passed him an aluminum wrapped burrito into his hands and gestured to a nearby park bench. Before they could leave, Antonio popped his head back out of the van, holding a paper cup the size of a shot glass out the window.

"¡Wilson, tu cafecito!" Antonio called out to him, and Wade's eyes brightened.

"Antonio, hermano, eres un salvavidas," Wade told him, cradling the cup like it was the elixir of life, and Antonio rolled his eyes.

"Pero claro que sí," Antonio laughed. "¡Que tengas buenos días y hasta luego!" Wade nodded, giving Antonio another fist pump before walking with Danny over to the bench, snow and slush crunching under their feet. Wade unwrapped his own burrito and dug in, placing the tiny paper cup on the armrest while Danny continued to stare at him in awe.

"Try it!" Wade told him eagerly, his cheeks bulging as he took a huge bite. "Yo'r gonna loff it!" Danny grinned, carefully taking off the aluminum and biting into the corner.

The tortilla on the burrito was soft and warm, and it smelled meaty and spicy. Danny could taste bell peppers and onions, cheese and eggs, but also rice and black beans, red and black pepper sticking to his tongue. He closed his eyes and groaned happily, knowing he would have been floating away in bliss if he was in his ghost form. Wade nudged his arm with his elbow, and Danny took another bite, munching happily. Halfway through his burrito, he paused and looked at Wade.

"I didn't know you could speak Spanish," Danny commented, preparing to take another mouthful. Wade rolled his eyes.

"I can't believe that is the part you want to focus on," Wade groaned, lifting his burrito for another bite, "When you have an amazing burrito in front of you!" Danny paused, his own burrito halfway to his mouth and steaming in the cold air.

"Wade, are you kidding me?" Danny told him, "That was awesome! Where did you learn to do that?" Wade shrugged, smirking a little bit under his scarf.

"I've traveled a lot - still do," Wade replied, taking the last bite of his burrito and swallowing it quickly. "You spend so much time in another country, you pick up the language really quickly."

"That's so cool," Danny replied wistfully before he nibbled on his food. "What other languages do you know?" Wade hummed, leaning back on the bench after tossing his wrapper in the garbage can beside him.

"A few," Wade answered. "Technically I'm a polyglot-."

"A poly-what now?" Danny frowned, and Wade chuckled, noogieing his head again.

"A polyglot," Wade repeated, taking the tiny paper cup off the arm rest and holding it in his hand. "It means I'm multilingual. I'm fluent in English, Spanish, German, and Japanese, but I also speak a little Portuguese, Canadian-French, and a bit of Swahili. Well, I know the important stuff anyway." Danny snorted, taking the last bite of his burrito and balling up his wrapper when Wade piped up again. "Oh yeah! And I know Esperanto!" Danny coughed in shock, hands covering his mouth so he wouldn't spit his food all over the ground as he remembered the words he whispered to Fido the first time he actually got to know Wade. He swallowed painfully before he slumped forward and buried his head in his arms in embarrassment, his face red as a cherry. Wade threw his head back and laughed.

"Jerk," Danny muttered, still hiding his face. "Why didn't you tell me you could speak Esperanto?" Once Wade's laughter had simmered down into snickers, he shrugged his shoulders.

"You never asked," Wade replied smugly before continuing, "But a better question would be where did _you_ learn to speak Esperanto?" Danny huffed, sitting back up.

"There's this ghost in the ghost zone," Danny started, throwing his balled up wrapper in his hands, "His name's Wulf. He was being controlled by another ghost to get back at me, but he only knew how to speak Esperanto. Tucker already knew part of the language so we figured out what we needed to do to help him, but when Wulf went back into the ghost zone, I got curious. I ended up teaching myself so I could talk to him the next time I see him." Wade grinned.

"It's not too bad," Wade commented, "Pronunciation could use a little work though." Danny glared at him through his bangs before zoning in on the paper cup in Wade's hands. With a smirk Danny lunged and tried to turn the cup intangible, but not before Wade sputtered as he used his height to his advantage, raising it above his head and keeping it out of Danny's reach.

"Hey, get your own!" Wade grinned using his other hand to keep Danny away. Danny conceded defeat, tossing his wrapper in the trash and settled back into the bench. Wade brought the cup to his chest, eyeing Danny cautiously in case he went after the cup again ~~(Danny made no promises)~~.

"What's in there anyway?" Danny asked as he leaned on Wade's arm, "The vendor back there called it cafecito; that's coffee, right?" Wade switched the tiny cup to his other hand, making sure to keep it out of reach.

"It's Cuban coffee," Wade corrected, "There's a big difference." Danny wrinkled his nose.

"It doesn't have alcohol in it, does it?" Danny questioned, raising a brow.

"That's Irish coffee," Wade snorted. He looked like he was ready to try and play keep-away again, but instead he stilled and smirked like the cat that caught the canary and held it out to Danny. "You wanna try?" Danny took the cup hesitantly, not fully trusting Wade's smile.

He peeled the plastic lid off the cup and steam bloomed out. The coffee inside was black and had the constancy watered down syrup, the walls of the cup stained brown from when the coffee had sloshed on the sides. A tan froth floated on the surface of the coffee, and it almost smelled like caramel. Danny slowly brought the cup to his lips, taking the tiniest sip he could. It tasked like getting kicked in the teeth with liquid sugar until the punch of pure caffeine chased it away. Danny scrunched his nose and smacked his lips, swallowing a couple of times to see if he could get rid of the aftertaste lingering in his mouth. All in all, it wasn't that bad; just really, _really_ strong. Wade looked a little confused, as if he thought Danny would have more of a reaction too it, and his hand was held out expectantly for the cup. Instead Danny flashed him a sly grin and stood up before Wade could pin him down with an arm around his shoulder, and downed the rest of the coffee in one go while Wade sputtered in shock on the bench.

"Not bad," Danny remarked, and a few other people who had stuck around to enjoy their own breakfast openly smiled at Danny's antics.

"Did you really just-," Wade said disbelievingly, and Danny giggled as he threw the cup away and sat back down. Wade groaned, rubbing his eyebrows and looking like he regretted ever handing Danny the cup. "Holy shit, you know you're gonna be wired to the moon and back, right?" Danny shrugged his shoulders and crossed his arms smartly.

"Sounds like that's kinda a 'you' problem," Danny retorted, Wade choked on a bit of laughter.

"You're such a brat," Wade told him, but Danny's core warmed and hummed contentedly in his chest as Wade pulled him off the bench and started dragging him to their next destination with a smile on his face.

* * *

True to Wade's word, Danny was indeed wired for the rest of the morning. He felt like his heart was pounding on the back of his ribs, his hands were shaking slightly, his feet were tapping constantly, and he was talking like it was an Olympic sport. Danny was beginning to like it; he felt like he could run a marathon or fly around the world. Wade went along with his energetic mood easily, keeping up with Danny's scattered thoughts as he led them to more food stands.

In retaliation for stealing his coffee, Wade found an Middle Eastern food stand next and order something called shakshuka for them to share, and Danny's mouth burned after only a spoonful as Wade smugly continued eating the rest of the dish. Soon they were egging each other on to try some of the more obscure stuff on the menus of each place they visited, laughing at each other when one of them tapped out or stealing bites from each others plates. In between stopping for food or getting drinks, they took breaks on park benches and the occasional train ride as they snaked their way through Queens and up to the Bronx. Danny talked about some of his more annoying ghost encounters while Wade told him his funnier team ups with Peter as Spider Man. Danny was happy this turned out to be a great idea; he would love to show Sam and Tucker around the city this way.

But it was about a third of their way through that Danny realized that something was bothering Wade. With both of their aversions to anything related to the holidays, Wade attempted to lead them around the more expressive parts of the city, but sometimes it would be unavoidable and they would end up in the thick of it. Seeing so many people happy about the holidays still filled Danny with resentment towards his parents, but it wasn't as bad as it was yesterday with the memories of having Hanukkah dinner with Peter and May the night before to soften the blow. Still, Danny tended to clam up when they were in the thick of the crowds, but Wade didn't seem to mind holding the conversation up by himself. But Danny noticed at the busier intersections, Wade would stop abruptly before hunching in on himself and angling his face down toward the slush covered sidewalks before continuing again. It didn't hit him until a few times later that people were gawking or staring at the little visibly scarred skin around Wade's face that wasn't covered by his hood or scarf.

Danny's core bristled and jolted in irritation, his obsession for his **_Fam_ ily/ _Fri_ ends/Protect** uncurling from around his core like an insistent itch he couldn't scratch. It also didn't help that the later it got, the busier the streets were becoming. The oppressive feeling from yesterday returned, only instead of shielding himself, it surrounded him and Wade like a blanket and pinged like an alert when people stared. Danny glared harshly at anyone he found gaping at Wade, sometimes turning sharply to look behind him. He tried to rein in his obsession just enough so that his eyes weren't glowing, but he wasn't sure how successful he was when some of the people he caught jolted before turning away hastily. If Wade noticed, he didn't comment on it.

It was getting better until they passed an open cafe. Whatever Danny had surrounded Wade and himself with pinged, but it didn't feel like a poke or prod against his core; this time it felt slimy like scum film, like oil or drool dripping down his back. Danny had shuddered, shifting his shoulders to make the feeling go away when a man sitting at one of the open tables spoke up.

"Well, well," The man said, "Wade Wilson, the man who tried to court death, in the flesh. How _wonderful_ it is to see you again." Instead of hunching his shoulders and making himself smaller, Wade immediately straightened to his full height with his shoulders pulled back, looking much taller and bigger like he did as Deadpool.

"Hey Prince of Darkness," Wade replied as he turned to face the man, putting Danny behind him as he pulled down his scarf and smiled wide, showing his teeth. "How's it hangin'? A little to the left? Or not at all today?"

The thin man wore black dress shoes, trousers, suit, shirt and tie, and it reminded Danny of a black hole sucking in all the light. He had an oval shaped face with a sharp chin and a pointed nose, and Danny was startled to find that his eyes were piercing, iridescent green while his skin was pale white. He had long black hair that was swept neatly back behind his ears, and he didn't seemed at all bothered by the chill in the air even though he wasn't wearing a coat. Danny bounced his focus between the two of them as they appeared to square off, noticing a shimmering dome surrounding them that reminded him of Dr. Strange's magic. People outside of the dome weren't paying any attention to them, and Danny wondered if this guy was some type of sorcerer. The next time his eyes went back to Wade, Danny noticed he was fiddling with something in one of his pockets and saw the handle of a switchblade peek out from behind his palm. Danny tensed as his core vibrated; whoever this guy was, he was trouble.

The man's eyes shifted to focus on him, raising an eyebrow slowly as he studied Danny, and that filmy feeling returned. Wade noticed the shift in attention, and he wrapped his other arm around Danny's shoulder protectively while still angling Danny behind him.

"Anyhoo~," Wade continued, his smile sharpening, "This is my kid. Me and Spidey are adopting." The man tore his eyes away from Danny, returning his attention to Wade and smirked.

"Of course you would. How appropriate," He sneered, "A draugr haunting the man that can never die. Poetic." Danny bristled as something deep within his core seethed. He didn't know what a draugr was, but the way the man said it was clearly an insult towards Wade and himself. Before he knew what he was doing, Danny phased through Wade and put himself directly in front of the man, grabbing his wrist in a vice grip and pulling him forward until they were almost nose to nose.

"I̧͡ ̨͡a͕̱͖̭̟̾͌͋̏̕m̹̋ ͓ **Ṇ̻͚̒͋̌Ǒ̼͍̎T̳͠** ̺͚̰̜͉̤̃̌͗͐̄̅a̧͉͋̌ ̣̋d̨͔̤̱̬̭͑͑̃̔̊r̟͉͇̔̏̕a̮͎̤̾̍͂ù̼̉͜g̡̛̰̍̏̕͟ͅr̲̒," Danny hissed into the man's face. The man tilted his head as he smiled wide like a snake showing it's fangs.

"Then what are you?" The man asked. Danny's could feel his eyes glow as a dam unlocked deep within his core, flooding his body with ectoplasm as Wade let out a tiny gasp behind him.

" Ĩ̻͙͕̏͛͜'̟͎̳̌̐̇m͔̠̱̺̔̽͊̈̓͢ ̼̲̘̻̋̋̍P̧͎͔͎͉͐͌͂̔̓h͙̫̣͈̆̔̒͋ǡ̢̙̬͛ṉ͚̆̕t̲̺͕̜͌̑̋͒ȯ͉͓̺̮̃̒̕m͍̠̲̊̓" Danny replied, his voice deeper than he had ever heard, "A̩͗n̩̜͈͖͈̉̋̐̈͌̕͢d̬̼̦̉͋͆̆͒͢͟ ̡͉̤̙̑̍̇͂̄͟y̡̗̿̉̽ͅo͈̅̉͟ṷ̪̟̘̇̿͘̕̚ͅ'̟͖̲̜͋̊̓̽́͟d̨̟͙͇̯͆̋̕͞͞ ̬̦͉͇̟̌͗̈̑̊̌͢b͕̔é̟͇̤̏̒t̝̻͖̅́̌t̢̮͎̍͗̾ẹ̗̻͕͍̿̏̒̀͞r̢̬̩̺͙̪͊̊̔͗̚ ̺̺̯͔̪͑̒̋͘͡r̡̠͈͙̲̆̊̍̔̊e͕̦̺̊̇͋͆ͅm̱͌ẹ̣̩̥͙͆̂̆͛̔m͔̱̘̺͑̿̚͡b̠̲̣̺̙͗͆̎̒̕e̢̡̗̱͊̒͑͆r̻̞̲̍̆͞ ̭̰͔̓̀͞i̯͙̒͠t̙͓̲̦̾̆̓̈̀ͅ."

The man's eyes narrowed before they flicked to something above Danny's head, growing wide as his mouth went slack before he snapped it shut. Somehow he went paler than before and he swallowed nervously before he spoke.

"My apologies, spirit," The man said, twisting his arm carefully out of Danny's grasp before disappearing from sight.

The slimy feeling disappeared and Wade grabbed the back of his coat, hauling him off and away as whatever spell the man cast dissipated. Whatever well of energy that had opened in his core locked shut, and Danny could feel his eyes go back to normal as he struggled not to trip over his own feet. He tried to turn more fully to Wade and ask what was wrong, but Wade was pushing him forward with a firm hand between his shoulder blades. After a minute of speed walking, Wade turned them down an empty alleyway and checked over his shoulder to see if they were being followed. When he was sure they were alone, he let go of Danny with a huge exhale and leaned heavily against one of the concrete walls of the alleyway.

"Holy shit," Wade groaned, pulling his scarf back around his face. "You really are trying to find new ways to give me a fuckin' heart attack. What the hell were you thinking!?" Danny looked confusedly at him.

"What are you talking about?" Danny asked, trying to catch his breath slightly, "Who was that?" Wade choked, looking at him like he was crazy.

"Are you serious?" Wade asked incredulously, and groaned as Danny continued to look bewildered. "You're serious! Shit on a shingle, how in the hell do you not know you just stood up to mother effing Loki! Trickster, God of Mischief, Evil, and Lies, a sense of humor worse than mine - and did I already mention he's a god!" Danny paled, gulping slightly; he remembered watching the news when New York was attacked, listening intently as the news anchors described who was behind it. He remembered what they say Loki did. But Danny couldn't bring himself to regret standing up for Wade; Wade was part of his obsession, and more than that, Wade was _family_. Danny stood straight and was about to speak when Wade continued.

"And what the hell was with your _eyes_?" Wade shouted. Danny blinked, more confused than ever.

"Wade, you've seen my eyes glow before," Danny told him and Wade scoffed as he pushed himself off the wall.

"Green, yes; white, no!" Wade retorted hotly, and Danny blinked as his mouth dropped.

"My eyes were glowing white?" Danny asked, and Wade paused.

"You didn't know?" Wade said, and Danny shrugged helplessly.

"I can feel when they're glowing," Danny remarked, leaning against the wall, "And my friends told me they shine green if I get angry sometimes. I don't think they've ever turned white before." Wade chewed on his lip as he thought.

"What about that crown I saw?" Wade questioned, taking a step toward him, "What's that about?" Danny grimaced, looking down at his feet as he kicked at some snow.

"Black, decorated with small jewels, glows green like a nightlight?" Danny replied and Wade nodded.

"Yeah, that's the one," Wade muttered, and Danny shrugged.

"I'm not a hundred percent sure what it is," Danny admitted, "But it started appearing once after I beat this ghost a while back. Now it just pops up every once and a while. I've been teaching myself to control it, but I have no idea what it does." Wade sighed, rubbing his hands across his face as he began to think.

"Listen home slice," Wade started after a moment, "I appreciate that you wanted to defend me, okay? But don't _ever_ do that again." Danny's core shivered and he opened his mouth before he could think twice.

"No," Danny blurted out stubbornly, and he could tell behind the scarf that Wade's mouth had gone slack.

"'No'? What do you mean, 'No'!?" Wade exclaimed, standing in front of Danny and holding him by the shoulders. "Danny, you're like my kid - hell, you pretty much are my kid! I don't care how strong or powerful you are, don't _ever_ try and protect me like that. I can take it - I always come back." Danny shook his head stubbornly.

"That's right, I am your kid," Danny argued, hanging tightly onto Wades wrists, "And that means your my family too, and my family is part of my obsession Wade! And I will _always_ protect my family. Whether it's keeping assholes on the street in check or standing up to gods or whatever else! No takes backs, remember?" Wade froze, his breath hitching as he slowly brought Danny in for a hug. Danny's sighed in relief, leaning his head against Wade's chest as his obsession finally relaxed, curling back around his core as Danny hugged Wade back.

**Author's Note:**

> Story time: I took Spanish in high school and college, and there are Cuban and Mexican coworkers at my work place that have sort of taken me under their collective wing because they think I'm adorable when I speak Spanish? So every once and a while, they'll bring authentic food for me to try, and one day someone brought in a coffee machine so I could try Cuban Coffee, what they called cafecito. Basically, -ito/-ita at the end of the word means small or tiny, so cafecito literally means small coffee. 
> 
> From what my coworkers have tried to explain to me, Cuban Coffee is always served in small quantities because it's super strong. What they forgot to inform me was that it's _hella_ strong. The first time I tried it, it felt like I was wired enough to go to the moon - but at least it was good XD I'm not sure if the term cafecito is specifically for Cuban Coffee or an overall term, so any fluent or native speakers correct me if I'm wrong.


End file.
